9 September 1966, Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England. Tomlinson grew up in Northumberland, then attended Oxford University where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Meanwhile, he was playing clarinet and saxophones, mostly the tenor, and developing his interest in jazz. In his post graduate year he studied at Londons Guildhall School of Music and began
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3 November 1977, Long Island, New York, USA. Singing from very early childhood, Monheit avers that no other career entered her mind. Surrounded at home by musically minded relatives, she sang as a semi-professional while still attending high school, then from the age of 17 was educated formally at the Manhattan School of Music. Acknowledging the influence of Ella Fitzgerald,
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19 March 1960, São Paulo, Brazil. Before she reached the age of 21, Elias had attracted considerable attention, not only for her keyboard playing but also as a teacher of jazz music. In the early 80s she moved to New York, joined the Randy Brecker and Michael Brecker jazz rock group, Steps Ahead, with whom she remained until 1984, and thereafter recorded and toured ex
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Great Bend, Kansas, USA. While still a small child, Allyson moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where she studied classical piano. Later, living in the San Francisco Bay area, she worked in the theatre before returning to Nebraska to attend university where she majored in classical piano, graduating in 1987. It was around this time that Allysons musical horizons broadened and sh
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1972, Norway. At the age of 16 Nergaard appeared in an impromptu performance at the Molde International Jazz Festival, attracting attention that was to help launch her career. Singing mainly pop, she recorded her first album in 1990. Tell Me Where Youre Going was very popular, especially in Japan, and the title track, issued as her debut single, spent 15 weeks in the U
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28 June 1963, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Born into a musical household, Sutton listened to and appeared in numerous local productions of musical comedies and operas, usually as a member of the chorus. While studying Russian at Wesleyan University, she encountered Bill Barron, head of the music department, and artist-in-residence, Ed Blackwell. She also heard several leading
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16 November 1964, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. Raised in a musical family Krall studied classical piano at school but played jazz style in her school band. Her first professional gig was at the age of 15 and she has not stopped since. She won a Vancouver Jazz Festival scholarship to Berklee College Of Music in the USA but later returned to her home town where she conti
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Canada. The Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based Johnson is one of the most promising jazz vocalists to emerge in the new millennium. Her career began at a young age, and led to performances across North America, as well as formal training at both the National Ballet School of Canada and the Banff School of Fine Arts. Johnson then landed in an obscure 80s art-rock outfit, Alta Mod
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Robin McElhatten, 1976, Rochester, New York, USA. McKelle began singing at the age of five as a member of a church choir, then studied music formally at the University of Miami, and at Berklee College Of Music, from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree. Subsequently, she returned to Berklee as member of the faculty, teaching voice. In the early 00s, McKelle wo
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1956, Lisle, Illinois, USA. Encouraged in her musical inclinations by her parents, saxophonist Floyd Barber and singer Peggy Orton, Patricia was taught piano by her father from the age of five, soon moving on to formal lessons. Following the death of her father when she was nine, the family relocated to Sioux City, Iowa. Her classical music studies continued through high sch
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1 May 1934, Washington, DC, USA, d. 20 October 2005, Cheverly, Maryland, USA. After studying piano formally, Horn continued her musical education at Howard University. She began leading her own group in the mid-50s, and in the early 60s recorded several sessions for Mercury Records, often in company with front-rank bop musicians. For some years Horn spent much of her time in
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1974, Athens, Georgia, USA. A precocious contemporary jazz singer, Madeleine Peyroux was first spotted singing in a Greenwich Village bar in New York, USA, by Atlantic Records Vice President of A&R, Yves Beauvais, in the early 90s. By the advent of her debut album in 1996, Peyroux had already spent much of her young life as a busker and club performer, working principall
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Rebecca Reneé Olstead, 18 June 1989, Houston, Texas, USA. This US actress and singer surprised many critics when her second album, a self-titled collection of jazz and pop standards, shot to the top of the US jazz charts in 2004. Remarkably, Olstead had been in the entertainment business for almost a decade by the time the album was released shortly before her 14th bi
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